


Making Traks

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 15:17:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17603789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Louisa goes for a trail ride with Willow, catching up with an old friend, and the truth comes out. Jay belongs to SpaceUnicornDot and Willow belongs to willownorthbook.





	Making Traks

**Author's Note:**

  * For [willownorthbook](https://archiveofourown.org/users/willownorthbook/gifts).



Louisa liked to think that she was good at noticing when her friends were struggling. It was easy with Daine, given the fact that she lived near him. And easy with Viktor, because she knew him as well as if he were her own brother. She even noticed when Via was down, the usually-bubbly girl quieter than usual. But Willow? Well, she worked all the time, so Louisa didn't exactly notice when she was working more than usual, to dangerous levels, even.

"Jay?" Louisa asked, seeing the group's resident Pandorian pacing outside of her large stable on South Hoof. She stopped, having been on her way to fetch a horse to take out for a ride. All of them had been trained to their full potential, so now, it really was a case of playing favourites.

"Louisa, thank Aideen you're here," said Jay, stopping his pacing and letting his hands fall from his blond hair.

"What's wrong?" Louisa asked, noting the frazzled look on the tall Pandorian's face.

"Wills is struggling," said Jay, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket that Louisa had seen Willow wear more than once. "She's been overworking herself again and she won't talk to me, she's usually gone before I'm up, and I'm just... worried." Being worried wasn't an unusual state for Jay, he was always worrying. Especially about Willow. Louisa could relate, she worried about all of her friends too.

"Where is she now?" Louisa asked. She pondered. "It's Wednesday, so she'll probably be in Fort Pinta helping out James."

"Yes," said Jay. "Just, do you think you could maybe... take her out for a trail ride? Or to see her little sister? Shane's been a bit preoccupied with his new girlfriend, which is understandable, and she won't sit still long enough to hang out with Brooks, so I don't know what to do."

"I'll talk to her," said Louisa. "And that solves the problem of who to take with me today."

"Oh, not that horse, please," said Jay, his eyes going huge. "I worry about Willow enough, I don't want to worry about you too."

"Well, it'll at least get her to talk more," said Louisa. "She likes helping me out with Trouble." All of her friends did, though Viktor rolled his eyes at Trouble's antics and most of them referred to Trouble as 'that fucking horse'. Not that Louisa could blame them, she lovingly referred to Trouble as her absolute asshole.

"Fine," said Jay. "But only because you know how to heal her, and you'll be able to feel if she gets hurt."

"I'll look after her, I promise," said Louisa. "And I'll try to make sure Trouble doesn't cause too much... well... trouble." Jay cracked a grin at that.

"Thank you," said Jay. "She means a lot to me, I just want her to be happy."

"I know," said Louisa. "That's all I want for her too." Bidding Jay farewell, she continued into her stable, hoping that Trouble was still there. And sure enough, possibly because he knew that he'd have the chance to do what he did best, there was Trouble, standing obediently in his stall. He looked up with bright eyes and a nicker when he saw Louisa, though Louisa squinted suspiciously at him.

"He's been here all day," said Goldie from his stall by the door. "I can vouch for that."

"See, I can be good," said Trouble, giving a swish of his tail.

"Probably hoping that if he's good, he'll be given a reward," said Smokeeye. "Like, for example, the chance to go on a date with his boyfriend."

"What? Noo, I'd never be bribed like that," said Trouble, looking at the bay Andalusian mare. Smokeeye snorted, looking away from him. Trouble looked back at his rider. "Though, if I did behave myself enough, would I be allowed to go hang out with Richard?"

"We'll see how you go today," said Louisa, opening his stall door and slipping a bridle on over Trouble's head. He took the bit readily enough, probably excited at the prospect of going out and being a menace to society. In fact, he was easy to tack up in general, not even trying to make the saddle fall off like he usually did.

"Where are we going?" Trouble asked as they set out across the grassy fields of South Hoof.

"We are going to spend some time with Willow," said Louisa.

"Oh, the emo tree?" Trouble asked. "Oh! The one with Shaggy!"

"They're the same person," said Louisa. "But yes, that one. And don't call her that."

"I like Shaggy," said Trouble. "He's fun."

"Yeah, because he's a little shit like you," said Louisa. Trouble took offense to that, planting his hooves and bucking. Louisa held on, though, and frowned down at him. "Stop it."

"You insulted me!" said Trouble with an indignant neigh. "How am I not supposed to take offense to that?"

"Well, I'm sorry," said Louisa, petting his neck. "Come on, I want to see my friend."

"Fine, but only because I'll get to see Shaggy," said Trouble.

Once they were at the ferry dock, where Louisa knew she'd get mobile phone reception, she sent a text to Willow, hoping that her friend wasn't too busy to check her phone.

'Hey Wills! Wanna go on a trail ride or do some chores together?' Willow's response, thankfully, was immediate.

'Yeah, sure, I'm down for doing some work together. Just as long as you can keep up.' Louisa smiled.

'You know I can' Louisa responded. 'Meet you at Fort?'

'Forty pints' Willow texted back, and Louisa knew that her friend wasn't referring to the bar that had opened up in Fort Pinta. Roo had gotten so drunk there.

One short ferry ride later, Louisa rode Trouble up the slope and then the steps into Fort Pinta proper. Trouble gave a happy whinny as they approached the stables, and Louisa grinned at the sight of the dark bay trakehner standing grazing in the stableyard. Louisa didn't ask Trouble to leap the small sandstone fence separating the rest of Fort Pinta from the stables, but he did anyway. Shaggy raised his head, swallowing his mouthful of grass.

"Shaggy!" Trouble greeted cheerfully.

"Oh, hi, Trouble," said Shaggy. His voice sounded like an eldritch abomination, but somehow, Trouble didn't notice and didn't care. "Louisa. My vi- er, rider, is replacing lightbulbs in the disco. Or testing them. The foolish things that mortals consume themselves with."

"Thanks," said Louisa. "But I think I'll wait for her here." She'd learned, a long time ago, not to trust the two horses together. Hijinks were sure to ensue.

Willow arrived soon after, anyway, pocketing her money as she walked into the stableyard.

"Oh, hey, Louisa," said Willow.

"Hey, Willow," said Louisa, waving to her with a smile. "Ready to go?"

"Yep, I've just finished up here," said Willow, swinging herself back into Shaggy's saddle. "Let's go, I'm headed to the observatory next."

"Sounds good," said Louisa. "I'll be right beside you."

As usual, it didn't surprise Louisa when Willow quickly urged Shaggy into a gallop, though it did concern her a lot. Willow's face was fixed in a near-constant scowl, it seemed, and Louisa wasn't sure if she should speak to her. But thankfully, by the time they'd reached the road up to the observatory, Willow slowed down, needing to so that Shaggy wouldn't injure himself on the steeper slope.

"So, how's your day been?" Willow asked, turning to Louisa.

"Pretty good," said Louisa. "I spent most of the day inside reading, then I decided to come out and take one of my horses out for a ride." She decided not to mention Jay, not wanting to worry Willow with the fact that her boyfriend was worried about her. Because that would only start an unhealthy cycle of worry. Willow seemed to have enough on her plate already, without that added worry.

"Sounds pretty sweet," said Willow. "I've just been working. Gotta get those shillings, y'know."

"Yeah," said Louisa. "I could use a few, myself. What have you been up to, lately?"

"Not much, just spending time with Jay," said Willow. "Because he's my boyfriend and I love him." A soft smile touched her lips, the first that Louisa had seen on her all day. But she could relate, Lisa always made her smile. "And you?"

"The same but with Lisa," said Louisa. "She was my rock after that stuff with Katja. Even if I did drive her away for a bit."

"I'm glad you two are solid again now," said Willow, looking at her and taking her eyes away from Shaggy. "You two are good."

"You and Jay are the real couple goals, though," said Louisa. "This conventionally-attractive guy who looks at you like you're his whole world? Yeah, that's good stuff."

"I'm glad you think so," said Willow. "Jay's very special to me. I don't know what I'd do without him. Well, I do know, since I was without him for a bit, but..."

Before Louisa could respond, though, Shaggy suddenly reared up, dropping Willow directly into a thornbush. Willow tried to hold on, of course, but Shaggy stepped out of the way with an almost prancing motion.

"Shaggy!" Willow chided him, trying to get to her feet. But a tearing sound, along with the feeling of something digging into her thigh, made her freeze. Slowly, her face paling, Willow looked down at her pants, to where a fresh tear had opened thanks to one of the thorny branches of the bush. Shaggy stood on the road, looking quite proud of himself.

"Willow!" Louisa cried, dismounting and running over to her friend. Willow tried to hide her scars, tried to pull the material of her pants back together, but the pink shone through. Louisa saw it immediately, stopping. "Oh..."

"I-I can explain," said Willow, trying to scramble to her feet. Louisa helped her up, then took off her red flannel overshirt and tied it around Willow's waist so that the back of it covered the front of Willow's thighs.

"Let's go back to mine?" Louisa asked. "I'll pay for the trailer." Willow was still shaking, but Louisa didn't look judgemental or upset. Only concerned.

"Okay," said Willow, nodding. Somehow, she managed to mount Shaggy again and ride with Louisa back down to Valedale where the trailer was. Louisa paid for them, as promised, and then Willow sat beside her friend on the long trailer ride back to South Hoof. She felt like Louisa could still see her new, secret Pandoric scars from where she sat, though of course that wasn't the case. The flannel was thick, after all.

Back at Louisa's little farmhouse on South Hoof, Willow waited at the kitchen table while Louisa boiled the jug and poured out tea for them both. Willow took the tea gratefully, wrapping her hands around the mug before taking them away because it was too hot.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Louisa asked. Willow gave a heavy sigh, looking into her tea. But then, she slowly rose her eyes to meet Louisa's brown ones, full of concern.

"I've been having nightmares," said Willow at last. "Bad ones. And don't worry, Jay's helping, but... sometimes, I still go to Pandoria. It started when Jay went missing, really. And then it... got worse. Especially after Katja's race. I started dreaming of Hawkeye dying, and Jay dying, and you guys dying. And I thought that if I kept going back there, I could get used to it, that I could face that fear and conquer it. But I couldn't, I guess. I only ended up getting hurt. But nothing caused these scars, okay? I promise. They just appeared, almost like scars or… stretch marks."

"I know," said Louisa. "And I'm glad." Because honestly, from the brief glimpse she'd had, the scars looked like Lisa's scars, from when she'd... "Do they hurt?" She hadn’t been able to feel them, but her friends did often take painkillers so that she wouldn’t feel their pain.

"No," said Willow. "I didn't even know I had them, that's how much they don't hurt."

"Does Jay know?" Louisa asked. "Or your dad?"

"I really don't want to tell them, Louisa," said Willow, closing her eyes against tears as her voice shook. "I-I can't, I can't make them worry like that, because Jay will blame himself even though it wasn't just him and dad'll only worry. I wasn't going to tell anyone, but you accidentally saw them so..."

"Do you think you can stop going there?" Louisa asked. Willow shook her head, her eyes burning.

"No," said Willow. She took a sip of her tea, trying to swallow her tears. "Not yet. Not until we save Anne. But Jay's from there, so how will he feel about his home hurting me?"

"Well, he's already seen the scars on your hand and face," said Louisa. "He can't feel any worse than he already does."

"I don't want to lie to him," said Willow. "But I also don't want to tell him that I started going there when he went missing. It got worse after that race, though."

"I know," said Louisa. "That was when you roamed Greendale every night, just like Starshine used to." She remembered coming across Willow there one night, her broken voice whispering 'Jay' over and over again, her eyes wide and bloodshot with dark circles under them, her face so pale that she looked like a ghost.

"Yeah," said Willow. "I'll figure something out. But can you keep this a secret? I don't want anyone else to know. Not yet."

"Of course," said Louisa, reaching across the table to take Willow's hands in her own. "Of course I'll keep your secret, Willow. Nobody needs to know about this, not until you feel comfortable telling them."

"Thank you," said Willow, a tear trickling down her cheek. And then, she rose from her seat and walked around to give her friend a hug.

"My door's always open, too," said Louisa. "If you ever want to come visit. Well, unless the soundproofing rune on the door is glowing. Then you know to stay away for a bit." Willow laughed, releasing Louisa from her hug that had been a little too tight, a little too relieved.

"I know," said Willow. "And thank you, again. I really needed this."

"Maybe Shaggy knew that," said Louisa.

"By Aideen, that horse," said Willow, returning to her seat and picking up her mug to take another drink of her tea. "I don't know what he is, I thought he was just a normal horse."

"Jorvik is just full of surprises like that, I guess," said Louisa, shaking her head while she held up her own mug of tea.

"Yeah, I've noticed that," said Willow. "And I come from here!" Louisa laughed before she took a sip of her tea.

Even with the revelation and Shaggy acting up, it really was good to catch up with an old friend. After all, Willow had helped her through so much already. She'd been there for Louisa when Lisa had been gone, and now it was Louisa's turn to be there for Willow. She could definitely do that.


End file.
